How Harry Potter entered my Indian home and never left! A mother’s personal journey..

‘Harry Potter’ sensation is 20 years old! Before that, wizards only said ‘abracadabra’! Today my boys say “Accio homework” and wait for their bags to magically unzip and pull out their homework!

I understand their heartbreak. I tried ‘diffindo’ on a particularly tight steel Dabba when nobody was watching. Sadly it doesn’t work, yet the magic feels so real. Like there may be witches and wizards walking around us muggles, and the strangely dressed ones maybe the best of them all!

As a mother, I love the Harry Potter series to bits. I’ve read them a fair number of times and find new meanings in them each time. My two boys have read parts of it, but mostly they enjoy my retelling of the magical wizarding tale. I do love telling them...

What were you doing this time in 2007? Whatever you did, we bet you still remember what you were doing when you read the most moving bits in the series. The time when Harry Potter was rescued by his friends in a flying car, or the moment when Dumbledore died or the time when Harry found Sirius...

Here are the six magical Harry Potter things lying in my house to remind me and my boys that magic exists... we just have to find them

1.Wands that choose the wizards: “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Harry Potter is the biggest influence on my kids learning English. A huge chunk of words in their vocabulary comes from being ‘up to no good’ a la Harry! Seen in the pics are the wands I made with dusting stick – peeling it with a kitchen knife and painting it with varnish.

The wands my children use.

2.Spell books are more important than course books: “Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress- adventure”

Flighty though it may sound, I know that 20 years from now my kids will know all about ‘human body’ and ‘pollution’, but will always laugh about their fascination with Harry Potter. The precious hours they spent prancing about on the sofas pointing wands at each other yelling “Evanesco” or “Expelliarmus”. This spell book was painstakingly created!

The spell that book sees more action than their course books.

3.Welcome to the wizarding world: “Love as powerful as your mother for you leaves its own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever."

Kids and I love it our Harry Potter poster! The second they see it, they know that they are home, where their Mum is waiting for them. I put it up during one of their birthdays. It’s yet to come down.

An enchanted Welcome, to my home

4.Wear your magic: “Working hard is important... but there is something that matters even more – believing in yourself.”’

My boys wear their magic on their clothes as a shield. We got this printed at a local gift shop because the branded Harry Potter Tees were, frankly an unnecessary expense. This one works just fine!

Wear your magic as a shield!

5.Owls bring news: “Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end – if not always in the way we expect.”

Isn’t this true? Whether it is career, sanity or body size that slipped out of our reach during our baby phase, will come back. Not in ways we may expect though, but in the confidence and the pride- oh yeah! So this owl light is very special to our home.

The harbinger of all good things- Harry Potter owl.

6.Key to the light: “It’s our choices Harry that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Finally, this quote has helped me so many times, I’ve lost count. I tell my children to choose to work on their grades/friendships. The act of choosing to do it, alone guarantees results.

Gryffindor forever!

7.Pumpkin juice: “of course it is happening inside your head, Harry. But why on earth should that mean that it’s not real?”

I serve my children their daily milk in these mugs. Why on earth should Bournvita not remind them of wizards pumpkin juice?

Let the enchantments begin.

And this is how Harry Potter has become my guide to parenting.. the magical way!